Epicenter enters a new market: launches agricultural products trading in July
The Epicenter K group of companies is launching agricultural products trading and is considering plots in Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions to expand its land bank. This was announced by Svitlana Nikityuk, head of the agricultural direction of Epicenter K.
"Our company has been launching trading since July. After launching trading, we will use elevators not only for storage, but also for transshipment of third-party grain and grain procurement," Nikityuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The company's elevator hub is designed for 1.8 million tons of simultaneous storage. Despite the underutilization of capacities in Ukraine last season and rapid climate change, the company does not plan to reduce capacity.
"If our elevators were in the Odessa region, then yes, they would lose their relevance and would have to be sold, because port terminals are now ready to offer the entire complex of linear elevators. However, our elevators are located in Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsia and Kyiv regions, so we are not even thinking about selling. Moreover, we still remember the years when we did not have our own capacities and could not find a place for storage even from other players," Nikityuk noted.
Since 2016, "Epicenter K" has been developing the agricultural business. It cultivates over 160,000 hectares in Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Kyiv regions. The group includes 20 livestock farms and 15 grain elevator complexes.
The epicenter belongs to Oleksandr (51.3%) and Halyna (47.97%) Hereg, another 0.73% belongs to Tetyana Surzhyk.
Regarding the company's land bank, it did not undergo significant changes in 2023-2024, but may be expanded.
"It fluctuates around 168,000 hectares. Sometimes shareholders decide to cultivate the land themselves and break lease agreements, sometimes we lose land due to aggressive expansion of "neighbors". But these losses are compensated by the acquisition of other land plots," she said.
Regarding expansion, Epicenter K is interested in land in the areas where the company is present.
"First of all, these are Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia regions. We are looking, looking, and open to negotiations. Right now, the priority for us is ownership. However, we can also consider purchasing the right to lease," Nikityuk said.
- In December 2023, Epicenter opened its own industrial park.
- In August 2024, the owners of Epicenter entered a new market for the supply of gas and electricity.